Church Theology

Angels are everywhere—as a matter of fact, right at your side. Forget the sweet-faced cherubs of popular culture, however, and brace yourself for a far more potent reality: powerful heavenly beings who play a significant role in the personal drama of daily life—your life.

A biblical defense of egalitarianism that relies on Scripture to affirm gender equality in the eyes of God. "Biblical womanhood" is the idea that the Bible teaches God-ordained male leadership and female submission in the home and subordination in the church. Some say this hierarchy of authority...

Walter Brueggemann is one of the most highly regarded Old Testament scholars of our time; talk-show host Krista Tippett has even called him "a kind of theological rock star." In this new book Brueggemann incisively probes our society-in-crisis from the ground up. Pointing out striking correlations between the catastrophe of 9/11 and the destruction of ancient Jerusalem, Brueggemann shows how the prophetic biblical response to that crisis was truth-telling in the face of ideology, grief in the face of denial, and hope in the face of despair.

The “modern Jesus” of progressives—supposedly friendlier and more accepting than the Savior we know from the Gospels—is gaining popularity and acceptance among self-identified Christians. But they don’t realize that progressive Christianity rejects the biblical revelation of Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh. Hijacking Jesus addresses perennial questions about the nature of Christ and his teaching, testing the historical and theological accuracy of progressive Christians.

Satan's transformation from opaque functionary to chief antagonist is one of the most striking features of the development of Jewish theology in the Second Temple Period and beyond. Once no more than an "accuser" testing members of the human community, Satan, along with his demons, is presented by Jewish apocalyptic texts and the New Testament as a main source of evil in the world. In Satan and the Problem of Evil, noted scholar Archie Wright explores this dynamic in both its historical and theological trajectories.

A “deeply spiritual and socially radical” (Dr. Obery Hendricks, PhD) call to action for those seeking justice and love in an age of division, from Reverend Otis Moss III, one of the most esteemed voices in Black theology and progressive Christianity. Once again, as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr...

We know that Urban isn't just a place but a culture now. Followers of Jesus face many challenges to their faith, among them the rising influence of contemporary cults, alternative theologies, and ethical issues that challenge traditionally held beliefs and practices. Urban Apologetics: Cults and...

The letters from Jesus to the Revelation churches must be the most misunderstood chapters in the Bible. Many people dismiss them as too hard, too strange, or too scary. “Did Jesus really say that?” Contrary to what you may have heard, these letters are good news from start to finish. They are love letters from Jesus to all of us, and they reveal the extreme goodness and favor of God. In Letters from Jesus, Paul Ellis unpacks the astonishing good news found in these ancient letters. In them he finds answers to tough questions.

Who Stole My Church? is a fictional story that tells the all-too-real tale of many church communities today. In this audiobook, you can walk alongside an imaginary community, led by real-life pastor Gordon MacDonald and his wife, Gail, and discover how to meet the needs of all believers without abandoning the dreams and desires of any.

The Church's Best-Kept Secret is a short primer which lays out the basics of Catholic social teaching in a way accessible to the ordinary Catholic as well as to any other person of good will attempting to grasp this often profoundly misunderstood area of Church doctrine and practice. Writing in everyday language for the non-scholar, award-winning writer Mark Shea concisely describes the roots of Catholic social teaching in Scripture and tradition and gives simple, practical examples of how it works in ordinary life.

Read by the author. Aimee Byrd peels back the church's underlying and pervasive theology of power to face the shame that lurks there and find the lasting hope of belonging in Christ. Some things happening in the church these days should provoke our anger. It's racked with scandals of fraud...

In today’s polarized context, Christians often have committed, biblical rationales for very different positions. How can Christians navigate disagreements with both truth and love? Tim Muehlhoff and Rick Langer provide lessons from conflict theory and church history on how to negotiate differing biblical convictions in order to move toward Christian unity.

The first section summarizes the case laws. The author tenderly illustrates how the law is for our good, and makes clear the difference between the sacrificial laws and those that apply today. The second section vividly shows the practical implications of the law. The examples catch the reader's attention; the author clearly has had much experience discussing God's law. The third section shows that would-be challengers to God's law produce only poison and death. Only God's law can claim to express God's "covenant grace in helping us."

Praxeology, the science of human action, is a lens through which truthfulness of the world is revealed. Truth goggles, if you will. Praxeology teaches us that everything going on in our society is rooted in the wills and desires of individuals. Starting from an irrefutable set of statements about human beings, we can come to conclusions about human behavior that are true regardless of what any political ideology might assert.

What does it mean to be a disciple? The call of discipleship is more than programs and Bible study. In King Jesus and the Beauty of Obedience-Based Discipleship, David Young presents a bold call for obedience-based discipleship and argues that it alone is the proper response to the kingship of...

Evangelism is not only misunderstood, it is often unpracticed. Many Christians want to share the gospel with others, but because those Christians don't grasp the fundamentals of witnessing, they feel intimidated and incapable of sharing the truth of the gospel. Yet those believers fail to recognize that God has already established who and how we are to evangelize. In The Gospel and Personal Evangelism, Dr. Mark Dever seeks to answer the four basic questions about evangelism that many Christians ask: Who should we evangelize? How should we evangelize? What is evangelism? Why should we evangelize?

Many of us have questions about what it means to live as a Christian in the context of a local church. You may even catch yourself asking: If I believe in Jesus, why do I need to join a church? To put it simply, when you are saved from your sin, you are saved into a community characterized by fellowship and accountability.

Throughout history, Christians have debated Paul's influence in the church. Though revered, Paul has also been controversial. In this masterly analysis, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Garry Wills chronicles Paul's tremendous influence on the first explosion of Christian belief, the controversy surrounding Paul through the centuries, and the meaning of his words.

Daughter Zion avoids the extremes of ignoring the biblical foundation for Marian doctrine on the one hand and fundamentalistic proof-texting on the other. Instead, the author beautifully and lucidly develops key biblical themes to help listeners understand and appreciate the mother of God.

St Symeon's theology is a summation of a lifelong study of the Scriptures and fathers, of an immersion in the liturgical life of the Church and of lived experience. The treatises on the mystical life, usually rendered as The Ethical Discourses, comprise St Symeon's most extensive treatment of the experience of God. Volume I selects those treatises devoted to the Church, the sacraments and the last things. The SVS Press audiobook program is sponsored by St. Symeon Illumination Fund.